The Things We'd Do For You
by IonaCarta
Summary: The Marauders' first full moon together


"Come on, Pete, he won't bite!" two boys stood at the entrance to a tunnel, half concealed by the base of a tree. A third boy stood at the edge of it's branches, seeming wary to follow them.

"He quite literally could, James, remember, he's a werewolf in there!"

"Which is why we need to get in there and transform before he changes!" said the taller of the two boys, sounding exasperated.

"Please don't make me!" the reluctant boy begged. Over his head, the tip of one of the branches twitched.

"Pete, the willow's waking up! You have to move!" he gave a frightened squeak, then dived into the tunnel after his friends.

"Atta boy!" called the taller boy after him, slapping him on the back as he passed. The three friends set off down the passage, trepidation mounting.

When they reached the other end of the tunnel, there seemed to be only two of them. A rat scurried away from them and through a crack between the stacked boxes up ahead. The two black haired boys stood in the halflight, waiting, their heartbeats seeming almost audible.

The rat scurried back through the hole and suddenly was the smaller boy again, panting heavily, his face sweaty and flushed.

"It's too late," he panted, shaking his head, "he's already transformed."

But far from seeming disheartened, the other two boys exchanged looks of glee.

"This is probably better, now I think of it!" exclaimed the one with square framed glasses. The rat boy frowned.

"How?"

"He would never have let us come if he knew what we were doing," the tallest boy explained, patiently, "but this way, we can show him it's safe, and how much better it will be with us there!"

There was a howl from behind the stack before them and suddenly all three boys had vanished, to be replaced by three animals: a rat, a black dog, and a juvenile stag.

The stag placed the furred buds of his antlers against one of the boxes and gave it a push. It gave way and slid to the ground on the other side with a crash. The stag leapt onto the top of the box beneath and gracefully down to the floor. The dog climbed up and followed, but the rat squeezed through the same hole he had used before. The three animals stood in the centre of the room, each braced for fight or flight, watching the wolf that stood snarling before them.

The dog stepped forward, hackles raised, prepared to defend the other two if need be. The rat had scurried back into his hole and was watching with only his nose peeping through. The stag had lowered his head, the beginnings of his antlers pointed towards the wolf. The wolf took a slow step toward the dog and sniffed.

The two canines greeted each other as though they had never met. You would never guess that the two were firm friends, that they both had other forms.

The air was tense, but suddenly, that was broken. The wolf and the dog were suddenly running around each other, playing as though they were litter mates. The stag jumped back, shying away, startled, but then ran forward to join in. Even the rat crept out of his hole, though he didn't join the game.

The three larger animals ran together all through the house, playing together, trailed by the rat. At one point during the night, the stag left the others and went to join him. He lowered his head so that the rat might climb onto his antlers. Seeming emboldened by the nights exploits, the rat obliged and the stag reentered the fray, a little more carefully now, so as not to dislodge his passenger.

When the moon set, the wolf seemed to tire. The other animals followed him back to the room in which the night had begun and lay down beside him. None of them noticed as they transformed back to human form as they slept.

Remus is the first to wake. At least, he thinks he's awake. He feels awake, but he's in no pain as he usually is after a full moon. No scratches on his body, no bite marks on his legs and arms, no broken ribs from throwing himself against the doors and walls, desperate to get out. In fact, he's in no pain at all. Except... Suddenly, he sits bolt upright, eyes wide open. Sirius's head, which has been resting on his shoulder, bumps down onto the floor, causing Sirius to wake. Remus looks around in panic. All of his best friends are here. This can only be a nightmare.

In terror, he scrambles away from them, watching in horror as James and Peter stir. So this was why he was in no pain! He had feasted last night.

"Remus-" Sirius began.

"I'm sorry!" Remus yelled, tears beginning to fall down his face.

"Remus, stop-" James tried this time.

"I'll leave the school, I should never have put you in danger-"

"Please, Remus!" Peter squeaked.

"It's my fault, and now... now you all..." Remus stuttered to a halt. Standing before him, right where his friends had been, were a stag, a dog, and a rat. Remus blinked. "Right, that's it, I'm definitely dreaming. I'm going to wake up, and find myself in the shrieking shack, probably with a head injury..." He chanted, squeezing his eyes shut, "Wake up NOW!" He opened his eyes. The four animals stared at him unblinkingly. The dog stepped forward and sat before Remus, panting and gazing up at him.

Flashes of the night before came to Remus suddenly.

"It wasn't a dream..." He breathed. The stag shook his head- and suddenly he was James. Peter suddenly stood where the rat had been, and Sirius sat before Remus, still panting with his tongue out, eyes laughing. Remus let out a high pitched laugh, slightly panicked.

"You were here with me? Last night? All night?"

His three friends all nodded, and Peter said, nervously, "Well, it was mostly the other two..."

Suddenly Remus's head was filled with anger.

"Have you any idea how dangerous that was? Running around with a werewolf, I could have bitten any of you!"

"But you didn't!" James stepped forward, looking concerned, reaching out to put a hand on Remus's shoulder. Remus stepped away, flinching away from the contact.

"I don't want any of you to do anything like this again!" He shouted, "I won't let you! You can't..." But a very small part of him was rejoicing in how his body was whole, how he had not injured himself once in the whole night, how his best friends had performed extraordinary magic, to help him.

He was aware of the three boys still staring at him, but turned his face away, suddenly ashamed, all anger gone from him.

"We did this for you, Moony." Sirius said, quietly. Remus looked at him.

"F-for me?" James nodded.

"You're our friend, Remus, we know how much you hurt yourself on a full moon. We thought... we thought we could help."

Remus nodded and swallowed. "You did. You have. I- Thank you. And I'm sorry. For shouting at you. I didn't... Well, I did mean it, it was dangerous, but mostly... Thank you." Sirius and James grinned at him and Peter smiled shyly.

There was a footstep in the tunnel outside and all four boys stiffened.

"That's Madam Pomfrey!" hissed Remus, "Hide! Go into one of the other rooms. She won't go into any of them." James, Sirius and Peter turned tail and disappeared into the next room together, leaving Remus standing in the middle of the floor. He lay down quickly and tried to look as though he was sleeping, though his heart was beating fast and his mind was still buzzing with joy.

"Lupin?" The matron's voice was anxious as she hurried over to him. Remus pretended to wake up, then winced from imaginary bruises. He sat up slowly and took the proffered arm as Madam Pomfrey helped him up.

"You're looking better than I was expecting." She said, approvingly, looking him over with an appraising eye.

"Yeah I feel better, too," he smiled, "Better than I have on a full moon for eleven years."


End file.
